October 25, 2016

Some tangential non-sense about upheaval at Tata Sons

What use is it being a journalist if you cannot access private phone conversations? I have just accessed one between retired Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata and ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry. It is newsworthy because of Mistry’s unceremonious exit as chairman of the $103 billion conglomerate Tata Sons. Admittedly, it was a very short and cryptic phone conversation. Here is the transcript.

“Cyrus, this is Ratan,” says Ratan Tata.

“Sahebji,” responds Cyrus Mistry with a familiar Parsi greeting.

“Ta ta,” Ratan Tata says.

“I know. How can I not?” Mistry replies.

“No, just ta ta,” Ratan Tata reiterates.

“Why do you repeat that? I know who it is,” Mistry says somewhat intrigued.

“No I mean ta…..ta as in goodbye. You are gone. Fired. Booted. Sacked,” Tata clarifies.

“Oh….” says Mistry.

The conversation ends abruptly.

P.S.: This is not a real conversation. None of this actually happened at all.

***

Since my newspaper office, during my initial years as a journalist in Mumbai, was a short walk from the Bombay House, the hallowed headquarters of Tata Sons, I used to visit it occasionally. I had friends working there in senior positions.

The Bombay House had the feel of a certain anchored-ness that can only come from very old money. It was not the sort of place where questions about return on investment (ROI) rent the air. On the contrary, it was like a sedate government office, only better appointed in terms of furniture and other fixtures.

Speaking of ROI, I am reminded of a piece I wrote about Ratan Tata and his Twitter account on February 1, 2015. That bears repeating today. This is what I pointed out yesterday on Facebook in the aftermath of Mistry’s sacking.

For me the bigger Mistry than Cyrus's abrupt departure is this:

In a little over five years since Ratan Tata joined Twitter, he has tweeted 121 times. That is about 1.8 tweets a month.

And yet he continues to have 6.29 million followers.

Incidentally, since I wrote the following post, he has added a niggardly 11 tweets; 10 if you count one spurious tweet that was deleted.

My calculation suggests that for every tweet Tata has added 263636 followers.

Now that is some staggering return on investment!

FEBRUARY 01, 2015

I might yet fully comprehend quantum physics and the behavior of subatomic particles before I would figure out why anyone follows anyone else on any social media, particularly Twitter. With 118 followers built up since 2009, I should be officially declared defunct. I am in no position to sit in judgment over others on this subject. I do so merely because I chanced upon Indian industrial tycoon Ratan Tata’s twitter handle @RNTata2000. It was suggested to me this morning by Twitter as someone I might like to follow.

Tata was, before he retired chairman of Tata Sons, India’s most respected businessman. His Tata family has a long history of having built the country’s industrial backbone. He joined Twitter in April, 2011. Since then he has tweeted 110 times as of this morning. In a little over 1400 days that he has been on Twitter, he has posted 110 tweets, which works out to be one tweet every 12 days or so. Notwithstanding such sparse presence on an inherently frenzied medium, Tata has 3.44 million followers. That makes me wonder about what it is that these 3.44 million followers got by following him so far and, more importantly, what it is that they expect to get in the coming days and weeks and months and years.

In keeping with his public temperament his tweets are perfectly anodyne such as “Was Inducted today into the National Academy of Engineering. This has been a great moment for me!” on November 16, 2013 or “Wonderful to see US & India come together in a bond of mutual friendship and trust. Both charismatic leaders deserve great credit and praise” on January 26,2015.

For someone of Tata’s standing, he could at least consider a daily management tip or suggesting new business idea or encouraging young Indians to ask him questions or just tell great anecdotes from his business house’s long history. Not that following someone on Twitter is an arduous task that requires lifting tons of weight but a point must be reached when the followers feel compelled to ask “Why am I following this person?” 110 tweets in nearly four years? One would have understood if those tweets were truly profound and fraught with cryptic clues to the mysteries of the universe. Check this one from April 24, 2012, out, “Should the Media pursue sensationalism & misinformation rather than upholding their responsibility of reporting news factually?” It is not really a choice, is it now?

One would expect to see from him at least occasional flashes of the wicked sense of humor that the Parsi community, to which Tata belongs, are famous for.

Comments

Some tangential non-sense about upheaval at Tata Sons

What use is it being a journalist if you cannot access private phone conversations? I have just accessed one between retired Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata and ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry. It is newsworthy because of Mistry’s unceremonious exit as chairman of the $103 billion conglomerate Tata Sons. Admittedly, it was a very short and cryptic phone conversation. Here is the transcript.

“Cyrus, this is Ratan,” says Ratan Tata.

“Sahebji,” responds Cyrus Mistry with a familiar Parsi greeting.

“Ta ta,” Ratan Tata says.

“I know. How can I not?” Mistry replies.

“No, just ta ta,” Ratan Tata reiterates.

“Why do you repeat that? I know who it is,” Mistry says somewhat intrigued.

“No I mean ta…..ta as in goodbye. You are gone. Fired. Booted. Sacked,” Tata clarifies.

“Oh….” says Mistry.

The conversation ends abruptly.

P.S.: This is not a real conversation. None of this actually happened at all.

***

Since my newspaper office, during my initial years as a journalist in Mumbai, was a short walk from the Bombay House, the hallowed headquarters of Tata Sons, I used to visit it occasionally. I had friends working there in senior positions.

The Bombay House had the feel of a certain anchored-ness that can only come from very old money. It was not the sort of place where questions about return on investment (ROI) rent the air. On the contrary, it was like a sedate government office, only better appointed in terms of furniture and other fixtures.

Speaking of ROI, I am reminded of a piece I wrote about Ratan Tata and his Twitter account on February 1, 2015. That bears repeating today. This is what I pointed out yesterday on Facebook in the aftermath of Mistry’s sacking.

For me the bigger Mistry than Cyrus's abrupt departure is this:

In a little over five years since Ratan Tata joined Twitter, he has tweeted 121 times. That is about 1.8 tweets a month.

And yet he continues to have 6.29 million followers.

Incidentally, since I wrote the following post, he has added a niggardly 11 tweets; 10 if you count one spurious tweet that was deleted.

My calculation suggests that for every tweet Tata has added 263636 followers.

Now that is some staggering return on investment!

FEBRUARY 01, 2015

I might yet fully comprehend quantum physics and the behavior of subatomic particles before I would figure out why anyone follows anyone else on any social media, particularly Twitter. With 118 followers built up since 2009, I should be officially declared defunct. I am in no position to sit in judgment over others on this subject. I do so merely because I chanced upon Indian industrial tycoon Ratan Tata’s twitter handle @RNTata2000. It was suggested to me this morning by Twitter as someone I might like to follow.

Tata was, before he retired chairman of Tata Sons, India’s most respected businessman. His Tata family has a long history of having built the country’s industrial backbone. He joined Twitter in April, 2011. Since then he has tweeted 110 times as of this morning. In a little over 1400 days that he has been on Twitter, he has posted 110 tweets, which works out to be one tweet every 12 days or so. Notwithstanding such sparse presence on an inherently frenzied medium, Tata has 3.44 million followers. That makes me wonder about what it is that these 3.44 million followers got by following him so far and, more importantly, what it is that they expect to get in the coming days and weeks and months and years.

In keeping with his public temperament his tweets are perfectly anodyne such as “Was Inducted today into the National Academy of Engineering. This has been a great moment for me!” on November 16, 2013 or “Wonderful to see US & India come together in a bond of mutual friendship and trust. Both charismatic leaders deserve great credit and praise” on January 26,2015.

For someone of Tata’s standing, he could at least consider a daily management tip or suggesting new business idea or encouraging young Indians to ask him questions or just tell great anecdotes from his business house’s long history. Not that following someone on Twitter is an arduous task that requires lifting tons of weight but a point must be reached when the followers feel compelled to ask “Why am I following this person?” 110 tweets in nearly four years? One would have understood if those tweets were truly profound and fraught with cryptic clues to the mysteries of the universe. Check this one from April 24, 2012, out, “Should the Media pursue sensationalism & misinformation rather than upholding their responsibility of reporting news factually?” It is not really a choice, is it now?

One would expect to see from him at least occasional flashes of the wicked sense of humor that the Parsi community, to which Tata belongs, are famous for.